The spring rain has not yet arrived, but the Jin army is stuck in the mud.
After crossing the Lihe River, Wanyan Wushu sent people to explore the surrounding area, and found out across the river that the city of Yan on the lower reaches had received city defense repairs and military reinforcements. The so-called city was strong and the army was strong, so he had no choice but to give up and return north from here.
With my thoughts in mind, I went straight north to Ru River in anger.
To be honest, Ru River is much more famous and wider than Li River. But this time, just to build a pontoon bridge, Jin Jun followed Niu, Tang, Li and other banners that suddenly appeared on the opposite side, as well as a total of no less than five or six thousand people under the banners.
The powerful Song army had no fewer than seven or eight conflicts on the river, with fire boats, swimming boats, and even a small-scale navy force... It was always difficult to build a pontoon bridge.
In the end, the Jin Army had no choice but to repeat its old tricks and forcibly detached a cavalry force of 4,000 people from the upstream where the Ru River branch branched off. Taking advantage of the upstream river branch and numerous shoals, they detoured for hundreds of miles.
They had just rushed to the other side of the river... But when the troops on the opposite side saw such a large-scale cavalry, they were not willing to fight. Upon seeing this, they burned their own riverside positions early, and then retreated further north to a reserve camp twenty miles away from the river.
Set up camp.
The Jin army did not dare to pursue it easily, nor did they rush to build a bridge. Instead, they followed the instructions of pulling away from the speed before setting off and established a stronghold on the spot.
After all, the losses they suffered last time on the Lihe River let them know that even if the bridge was successfully built, they would not be able to expand the scale of crossing the river. It would be vulnerable to attacks at night, and the pontoon bridge might not be able to be saved by then.
And sure enough, as the Jin army expected, the Song army launched another night attack in the evening.
It stands to reason that this time, the Jin army was already prepared and even had a camp, so they should have dealt with it properly.
But in fact, the exhaustion of detouring here still caused them to lose considerable combat effectiveness. Relatively speaking, the Song army succeeded in making the battle sudden by taking advantage of the darkness and familiarity with the geography.
Of course, the more important thing is that according to what the Jin Army said later, the Song Army brought tens of thousands of troops to this night attack!
The Jin army had no choice but to rely on the hastily erected camps to resist, and the battle lasted from midnight to dawn... Poor Wanyan Wushu and others led tens of thousands of troops, how could they sleep while listening to the movements on the other side?
In the end, almost all the Jin troops on the south bank stood up, holding torches and facing each other across the wide Ru River, trying to understand the situation of the battle.
The fire on the south bank of the river shone brightly in the sky, reflecting the Ru River in the middle into a river of fire, but the battle situation could not be seen clearly.
At dawn, the Song army dispersed on its own initiative. At this time, someone from the camp on the other side, which was already in disarray, swam to report, but they told Wanyan Wushu that more than one thousand of the four thousand soldiers and horses were lost, and more than half were lost.
of war horses.
The reduction of more than 1,000 troops was of course just a superficial injury to Wanyan Wushu's troops, and it was also consistent with the guess of the Song army's combat strength. So that day, the floating bridge was raised again, and the Jin army was 40,000, and it took another two and a half days to complete.
Cross all the rivers.
But just after the entire army crossed the Ru River, that night, a fierce dispute broke out among the top brass of the Jin Army!
The cause of the matter is actually very simple. After crossing the Ru River, the Jin Army found itself in a new, small strategic dilemma... You must know that at this time, the Ru River behind the Jin Army and the Ying River in front of it were both.
The main tributaries of the Huaihe River are relatively large rivers. The previous battles have also shown that such large rivers have a great hindering effect on the Jin Army's cavalry. However, at this time, the Jin Army was located downstream, that is, in the southeast.
On the front side, there is a fortified city of Yan, and upstream, that is, to the northwest, there is a fortified city of Xiang.
The guard general of Yancheng is Xu Shi'an, the most reliable man under Han Shizhong, and the guard general of Xiangcheng is bigger. He is the remaining Bu Shuai Lu Qing from the third yamen of the Song Army in Jingkang in the past. He can be regarded as a veteran who has persisted in resisting the Jin Dynasty on the front line of the Yellow River for many years... But no matter what
, these two cities were originally the main defensive points held by the Song Army at the beginning, and now the Jin Army's sentry cavalry has repeatedly investigated and found out that the two cities have been replenished and repaired in time after the Battle of Yanling. The previous
The siege was a failure.
Then the question arises... In this place where the left and right are almost restricted, and the front and rear are blocked, which can be called the death zone of the cavalry, do we still need to continue crossing the Ying River to the north?
If it can be said that Ba Lisu and others could endure and persevere before, but after the continuous reduction in numbers in the past few days, these battlefield veterans have already faintly noticed that something is wrong.
"The Song army is delaying us at all levels and wearing down us..." Beside the bonfire, Wulin Dataiyu grabbed a handful of firewood ash and sprinkled it in front of him, then pointed on the firewood ashes with a finger before making a conclusion.
"I know!" Wanyan Wushu glanced at the firewood ashes in front of the other party. He knew that the other party was reminding him of the Jurchens' military tradition, which was quite powerless, so he could only respond coldly.
"We are short of supplies." It was obvious that Ba Lisu had already discussed this with Wulin Datai, because he spoke almost immediately. "Fourth Prince, this time is different from when we came. The towns between the five rivers have been combed by the army several times.
Back and forth, the battle lasted for three or four months, and all the Song people who could escape fled. There was no way to resupply on the spot, not to mention that the Song army was obviously taking the initiative to strengthen the wall and clear the country..."
"I know too!" Wanyan Wushu still responded coldly.
When the three of them said this, they almost instinctively looked at Han Chang, the last member of the Ten Thousand Households, after reaching a deadlock, but Han Chang just lowered his head and remained silent.
It is obvious that this general of the Han army in Liao is opposed to the continued march, and he has the same views as Ba Lisu and Wu Lin Da Taiyu. But at the same time, another obvious thing is that this person, as Wu Shu's confidant general,
In terms of political stance, he maintained respect for Wushu.
But with Han Chang's gesture, the three of them had the same reaction... They were all half-relieved and couldn't help cursing this man in their hearts for not being able to stand their ground.
Of course, it would be difficult for Han Chang to do so.
In desperation, beside the fire, Ba Lisu turned back to Wushu and said, "Fourth Prince, I only want to ask you one more thing. If you insist on crossing the river, do you think Zhao Song's official family should be in a city in front, or do you want to cross the river?"
Chase him down, surround him, and eat him?"
Wanyan Wushu was silent for a moment and asked instead: "Let me ask you, Taran must be our commander in chief this time. Do we want to leave him alone? According to common sense, even if he is defeated, he should be in the Land of Five Rivers.
Zhengzhou at the top is guarding Kaifeng, right? It’s hard to say it’s being heavily surrounded!”
This is half nonsense, but actually there is some truth in it... The nonsense is that when we marched south a few months ago, we never saw Wu Shu treat Ta Lan as the commander, but instead treated Ta Lan like a subordinate.
They are usually summoned by force, and the reason is that regardless of whether Wu Shu respects Talan or not, this right deputy marshal is the right deputy marshal after all. He has not been heard from after crossing two rivers. Most likely, he was killed by the Song Army taking advantage of the great victory.
I got slapped in the face, so I had to save him.
At this thought, Ba Lisu shook his head repeatedly, and instead of arguing with the other party, he simply said his real suggestion: "This is what I want to say, Fourth Prince, if you want to go to Zhengzhou, why not take a detour to Ruzhou?
Go to Luoyang and leave Sishui Pass to help the right deputy marshal?"
Wu Shu was slightly startled, he was obviously defeated by an army.
After a long time, the fourth prince of the Jin Kingdom slowly faced each other: "Five rivers have already crossed two rivers, how can there be any reason to give up halfway?"
Ba Lisu had completely determined the other party's thoughts and just sneered in silence.
But Wulin Da Taiyu was angry and sullen: "In the final analysis, the fourth prince wants to put the army into danger just because of one person's personal grudges?"
"Capturing the Emperor of Song is a personal grudge?!" Wu Shu was also furious. "Have you ever thought about it, the weather is getting warmer now, and we are forced to withdraw our troops today. If we cannot capture the Emperor of Song, this battle will be hard for several months.
It’s all in vain! The land of Henan will return to the Song people!”
Wulin Dutai wanted to argue, but couldn't argue for the moment. He simply slapped the firewood ashes in front of him with his palm. The firewood ashes flew up and flew into the bonfire. Sparks flew everywhere, reflecting the seriousness of the four top Jurchen nobles around him.
's face.
To put it bluntly, who is willing to admit that this southern expedition has failed unless it is absolutely necessary?
Of course it failed. Just think about it. Not to mention the Western Route Army in northern Shaanxi, the 120,000-strong army here went south to the Henan area that had already been captured. Even if there were seizures, oil and water, they would still be trapped in months of embarrassment.
It was gradually exhausted in the city battle. There were not enough seizures, and then the battle was defeated, and the organized body lost more than a dozen men.
As for the strategic purpose of seizing Zhao and Song officials and supporting the puppet regime in Henan...
In short, I chose to withdraw directly at this time. Considering that the weather could not support the Jin Army's troops for another months-long siege, it would really be a full retreat. However, without achieving any strategic results, they lost more than a dozen
Under the circumstances of Meng'an, this trip south was a complete defeat!
What needs to be known is that even the last time Wanyan Wushu suffered a setback in Huaishang, it was just a setback after completing the Jin Army's set goal (sweeping both wings of Hebei in an attempt to completely control Hebei)... So, if this time,
The Jin army just left in despair, which was the first strategic attack in the history of the Jin army that was frustrated.
Back to the present, the conflict on the north bank of Ru River ended in a deadlock. Once the deadlock was established, it was natural to continue northward in accordance with the coach's wishes.
So soon, the Jin army arrived at the third river among the five rivers, which is the famous Yingshui River.
As expected, with the arrival of the Jin Army brigade, more Song troops appeared on the other side of the river, and even the word "Yue" was observed from the flag on the opposite side. Considering the rarity of this surname, Wanyan Wushu and others immediately
Then I understood that this was Yue Fei, the governor of Jezhou who once gathered and annihilated 5,000 Jin army cavalry in Liangshanbo.
The appearance of a general of this level undoubtedly declared that the difficulty for the Jin army to cross the Yingshui River in front of them was probably a step higher than crossing the two rivers behind them.
To be honest, that evening, when Wanyan Wushu came to the Ying River in person and looked at the Song Army on the other side who was talking about more and less, at that moment, the fourth prince himself was so tired that he wanted to give up.
.
He immediately rode up to Linhe. He hated Lazy for not being able to give him a definite message after the defeat, so that he was in such a losing position; he even hated the Zhao Song official for being dishonest and clearly promised to wait for him in Nanyang City, but suddenly ran away.
He came out to Yanling; at the same time, he also hated himself for being incompetent...
If he could have destroyed the Song army's astonishingly efficient artillery carriage in Nanyang, he would have been locked in a well and waiting for victory.
If we could see through Zhao Song's official family's trick on the bank of Baihe River and capture him early, this battle would have been over long ago and everything would be fine.
If he could immediately attack Talan without hesitation after his defeat, at least he would never be in such a predicament at this time.
"Fourth Prince."
Just when Wu Shu was looking at the river and sighing, Han Chang suddenly reined in his horse and came to the side of the former, stood beside him, and then said to each other softly. "Isn't it a beautiful scenery in the Central Plains?"
It is indeed a good scenery.
The sun sets in the western countryside, the river is full of golden color, the cavalry is continuous, the grass is rich and green, and there is a gentle breeze. I come from behind, and the flag is rolled up to echo the flag of the Song army on the opposite side. How can it not be a good scenery?
Therefore, Wanyan Wushu couldn't help but feel a little confused: "In a place where we are at a loss of ground, are we still in the mood to talk about the scenery?"
"Why can't we talk about the scenery when we are at a loss?" Han Chang didn't even turn his head, but continued to look at the river and spoke softly. "Looking at the future, such a beautiful scenery is just the right place for a hero like the Fourth Prince to be buried..."
Faced with such shocking words, Wu Shu remained silent.
"Fourth Prince, don't forcefully cross the remaining rivers to the northeast." Han Chang took the initiative to explain. "There is something weird in the northeast, or the Song Army is weird."
"How to say?" Maybe he was hit by the current situation, or maybe he himself understood that this confidant beside him was his last resort to maintain his dominance in the army and suppress Ba Lisu and Wulin Dataiyu, so it was rare for Wu Shu to be maintained.
calm.
"I have carefully thought about my experiences in the past few days... there are at least two things that scare me." Han Chang said calmly. "First of all, the Song army was too bold. They attacked at night, harassed, guarded the ferry, and retreated extremely.
The attitude of being calm, daring to fight, and capable of fighting has been undoubtedly revealed. It can be seen that the victory between Yanling and Changshe before the Zhao Song Dynasty official family greatly boosted the morale of the Song army and no longer looked like the embarrassing state of the past. This is a big thing. In the future, we will fight against the Song Dynasty.
Even military battles are difficult to win."
Wanyan Wushu nodded slowly.
"Another point is that the Song army dared to fight and advanced and retreated so well. Then why didn't they take the opportunity to eat our four thousand people on the north bank of the Ru River last time?"
Wu Shu shook his head repeatedly: "How could the Song army kill four of us in one night? More than a thousand casualties are already their limit."
"Perhaps so, but the general is always a little worried." Han Chang pointed to the flag on the other side and narrowed his eyes slightly. "For others, it's not like this Yue Fei has never fought in a battle of annihilation, right? Not to mention Liangshanbo, Yanling-Changshe was defeated.
, a dozen of us Meng'an were all dead within an hour, and it was he who crossed the Qinglu River first..."
"What do you want to say?" Wu Shu suddenly interrupted the other party.
"The general always feels that the Song Army is deliberately tempting us to go northeast." Han Chang responded seriously. "These days, although there are casualties, they are always small. Even if there are delays, they always allow us to continue to advance.
...However, the military situation ahead was completely unknown. When I came back to my senses, I realized that this place was a dead place for the cavalry, and it has become a state of disarray! Fourth Prince, I would like to ask, what if the situation in the past few days has changed?
Marshal Lazy was defeated again? Then wouldn’t there be a hundred thousand Song troops waiting in front of him?"
Wu Shu instinctively wanted to speak, but then he was choked and sweated profusely again.
Speaking of this, Han Chang finally glanced at the fourth prince beside him, and then whispered a message: "The fourth prince knows that Wang De and Hu Yantong have caught up from behind. They have broken through Wuyang and crossed the Lihe River.
...Otherwise, if only Yue Fei's posture was in front, the general would not have guessed like this."
Wanyan Wushu was stunned, and it took him half a day to respond: "Why are you telling me such military information now?"
"Because the general is afraid that the fourth prince wants to capture the Zhao Song official too much, he can't wait to cross the river after hearing the news." Han Chang responded coldly. "And if that is the case, I will observe the past few days, and I am afraid that I will pull away from the speed directly."
Then we will lure his headquarters away to the west..."
"He dares?!"
"How dare he not?!" Han Chang still responded coldly. "In this battle, the East Route Army was defeated in Henan. What did the Fourth Prince and Marshal Talan do to control the Wanhu of the West Route Army? Marshal Nianhan and Yin
Is the technique just a decoration?"
Wu Shu was speechless for a moment, and then became more and more frightened.
"Not only that, he has already lost his own nephew in this expedition. If he loses the soldiers and horses under his command again, how can his brother Yin Keshu spare him?" Han Chang continued to analyze calmly. "Fourth Prince, Yu Qing
Yu Li, I'm afraid he will all leave... And if he leaves, he will be in a state of disintegration. By then the Song army will be surrounded from the north and south, and this river will be the burial place of the fourth prince and the last general, a fool who will never abandon the fourth prince.
!However, such a scenery is suitable for the status of the fourth prince. I think the fourth prince must have no grudges like the last general!"
Wu Shu was completely speechless. It was not until after sunset that the soldiers around him began to raise fire and set up strongholds. Then he reluctantly said: "Yuanji (Han Changzi), what do you think we should do?"
Han Chang remained calm: "Pretend to cross the river, pack up dry food, throw down the baggage, and all the cavalry in the army will go northwest along the Yingshui River, transfer from Fengshi to Luoyang, and then plan for other things!"
Just as Wu Shu was about to say more, Han Chang finally became impatient: "The fourth prince... The last general did not speak out in the military meeting, but did so in private because there were some things that were difficult to say in public. In this battle, the fourth prince was defeated by the Zhao Song official again.
Come on! No matter how brave or decisive you are, everything is at a disadvantage. Only our army still has countless cavalry and will take the initiative in future affairs. So I advise you to recognize the situation as soon as possible!"
I don't know how long it took, but Wanyan Wushu nodded slightly under the faint twilight: "Just as General Han said."
Han Chang persuaded Wu Shu and breathed a sigh of relief. He was about to turn around and leave, but unexpectedly, the fourth prince still stood still. Han Chang had no choice but to persuade Wu Shu again, but saw the other prince coming from behind with the faint light of fire around him.
He took out a thick Jurchen arrow from the quiver.
Han Chang's heart moved and he stood silent.
And sure enough, Wu Shu had an arrow in his hand, but he also took a dagger from behind, then cut the arrow and dropped it to the ground. He swore by the river: "Taizu's biological father is above me. If I can't destroy Zhao Song in this life, I will kill Zhao Jiu alive."
Such an arrow will be broken at every inch!"
After saying this, he lowered his hips and stood up, then rode his horse back to camp.